The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1887-07-05


facilitate rapid conveyance of troops
to the frontier. Electrical railways,
which are not even productive, have
been multiplied TO promote local in
terests, but the great arteries of COM
munication between the seaboard and
the center of the country aud the
frontier have been somewhat neg
leeted. This, however, we shall know
when the experiment is tried, as the
designation of the particular corps
chosen for said experiment VIII be
notified to its commander at the last
moment, so as to see whether he is
ready, and TO test hesitate of prepare
ton of the railway companies all
that has been made public, so far, is
that the operation viii be made among
the troops garrisoning the northern
or western provinces the Italians
would be likely to complain if the
Midi or Provence were the RECON Sc
lected, while Germany might cali it
q hostile demonstration should the
eastern frontier be indicated
1t Will be an uncomfortable week
for travellers and traders when those
graHdeS maRsltrrss begin, for the law on
acquisitions voted in 1877 is very per
emptory, and the Superior Military
Commission charged with the super
vision and control of the lines and the
direction of the transport service Will
be found extremely disagreeable. 1t
is an undisputed and undisputable
fact, that all officials, however brief
their authority, are always disposed
to exert it TO the utmost-perhaps the
briefer that authority is the more au-
thoritatively is it asserted and French
officials are rather an illustration of
than an exception TO the general rule
Besides. the preliminary Ministerial
circulars, which are always commnni
Gated TO me direct from the War De
partner previous to their publication
in the official military organs, state
categorieally that the next ma
neuYres, whether connected with the
mobilization experiment or simply
field operations, viii be in strict con
formity with the prescriptions Of the
Ssrrics s7 CampagHe; that Is to say, they
will be exactly such as war necessities
would dictate IN every analogous cir
eumstance. This Will lend to them an
unusual amount Of interest and i'm
pOrtance, but at the same time viii
make the mission OF special CORES
pondents" al boc very difficult. Too
many indiseretions, some unwilling,
others from malice prepense, have
been committed by gentlemen detailed
as correspondents by foreign and ma
tive newspapers, and greater discrim-
ination is to be exercised IN the mat
ter Of permits TO follow French
armies than has heretofore been the
case. Correspondents, if authorized
at all. viii be kept under strict sur
veillance; they Will be told what Is
desirable they should repeat, and if
they manage to get at and publish
more, expulsion and imprisonment
Will be their reward in the matter of
mimic war, q drumhead court-martial
and pelet0H d'sreeati0H their punishment
for unauthorized revelations wherever
cannon and rifles are loaded with
other than blank cartridges. This is
parenthetical, but perhaps it is well
to know beforehand what IS to be ex-
peeted, so as to avoid accidents.
To return to the que stion Of mobiI-
ization in reference to the modus
operandi Of the Military Railway
Commissions, to which the railway
companies are obliged to conform all
their arrangements, and which directs
the movements of all the personnel
and material toward and also from
the objective point. The personnel
(executiye) at the disposal Of the com
missions is composed Of four com
panies of military railway workmen,
each company attached to one of the
four regiments of engineers and
united at the regimentaI school of the
First Regiment at Versailles, where
they form a special battalion, with
complete unity from the standpoint
Of its administration, instruction and
direction In time of peace their
effective IS limited on war footing
each company consists of one captain
commanding, l second captain, 4
heutenants or sub lieutenants, Of
whom 2 belong to the reserve, all
mounted F; l sergeant-msior first ser
geant), l sergeant-fourrier (quarter
master-sergeant), 16 sergeants, cor
poral fourier, % corporals, S chief
workmen, IS sapper workmen to work
the lines, , burglars, 199 sapper work
men for the construction, destruction
and PREPARATION of railway tracks and
yiaduets. Each company has its own
park, consisting of 2 marechaux de
Iogis. 6 brigadiers cavalry corporals),
of whom 2 are blacksmiths, II sapper
drivers. 10 saddle horses, 66 draft
horses, 2 one-horse and 2 two-horse
wagons for commissary stores, 2 ordi-
nary prolonges, each with s horses,
carrying railway engines 2 sapper